ILOILO CITY, April 2 -- The provincial government is closely monitoring the municipality of Sta. Barbara, where there is a reported clustering of pertussis, and expressed readiness to purchase vaccines to arrest the increasing cases of whooping cough in the province.

The province has logged 30 pertussis cases with seven deaths from Jan. 1 to March 23.

"We have a buffer stock of 14,000 (vaccine doses) as of the moment and could last until May. This is part of the routine. However, we asked for extra in case of outbreak response," Iloilo Provincial Health Office head Dr. Maria Socorro Quinon said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Quinon said of the 30 cases, nine are laboratory-confirmed. Of the seven deaths, only four are laboratory con...